As of no surprise, public speaking is terrifying to people like me whether it'd be the amount of people watching or just the reading itself. I can't read properly when speaking amongst my classmates. It sounds like I don't know how to read and since it's getting close to assessments, I will have to do a poem recitation meaning reading a poem in its context whilst remembering all the lines.

I would like some help on how I can become more confident in my speaking skills. I would prefer if the phrase "imagine everyone's in their underwear" would not arise. It's of no use and it makes me feel weird.

Focus on one person at a time when speaking

i cant really help that much since i have really bad glossophobia

This message has been deleted

Hmm... well, I'm fair at speaking in front of a classroom as long as I have a general idea of what I'm going to be talking about. I'm sure the reason for that is because I treat it less as giving some big scary speech/presentation, and moreso like a conversation than anything. First, try to change your perspective on what you're doing. It seems like when you're up there you're trying to just not screw up. Usually that's a pretty bad outlook to go into a situation with. Of course... altering that is easier said than done.

I guess you need to find a way to realize that you have no reason to not be confident in yourself.

Also, practicing works wonders. Whether that's reading aloud to yourself, presenting to friends/family, speaking to trees, anything.

I find improv speaking to be much easier than reading off paper.
I've always been good at speaking, but I'll say this. It's easier to do a speech on something your passionate about.

when looking at the crowd, don't "use/focus on your eyes," just focus on what you're saying or about to say, that way you won't recognize how people react to your speech. like coca said, just act casual. pretend you're talking to a wall.

be passionate about your speech. learn all you can about the topic (at least if you're interested in it), so if you forget something, just improvise something related.

you can't really have tips about stage fright, though. it all just comes down to how often you do it (practice) and how good you do it. used to have it too, but ever since i was a kid i've been continuously selected for doing speech-related activities and stuff.

find a way to go into a fugue-like state with alcohol or whatever and you're good

instead of looking at the crowd, look above it

or become an alcoholic, either work

I'll start off by saying I disagree with most of the responses here. (the ones that say you should focus on something).

When one is going to do some public speaking the best thing to do is be totally relaxed and not care what people will think when you are up there. You need to be relaxed and be as charismatic as you can (this depends on what kind of speaking you are doing).

I used to have a problem like you where I would really hate public speaking in front of the class because I cared a bit too much about what others thought about me. I learned to relax and have a little faith in myself and presentations flowed very smoothly from then on.

The most important thing to do is that you have to be confident. You must be confident in what you are saying and what you are telling your audience. Because if you don't believe in what you are saying it will show and your words will get all jumbled up. Say you are doing a presentation on why toribash is the best game ever. You better truly believe that toribash is the best thing ever, because if you are presenting something that goes against what you believe in it makes the presentation 100x more difficult. You will also struggle with the questions that come after the presentation. Also you'll have more fun with it if you are saying what you believe in and thusly will allow you to throw in charismatic flairs and stuff you wouldn't normally do.

*Also no memorization, if you slip up your presentation is pretty much over.

This is one of the more important skills to have as a student from my experiences, and like I said before even though I was awful at it back then I've become quite good at it now. Also in my university first year as a major project each student had to present a 45 minute presentation on a topic of their choosing. Keep in mind there are quite a lot of people in a lecture hall, so you may feel a little bit uneasy.


So the jist of what I am saying is that you need to be relaxed. Its imperative that you be confident in what you are saying and not think about what others will say about you during the presentation because they are more likely going through the same things as you. Also hand gestures and moving is what makes a good presentation a great presentation, but that all comes naturally once you truly become comfortable with your topic.

Good luck on future presentations man!

Thanks for the tips, especially you MrJingles. I'm usually scared about public speaking because of what people thought of me when speaking. I probably shouldn't care but I can't help it. Anyways, thanks guys... This really helped me improve in the slightest way.